Lane Cardwell

Irritable Bowl Syndrome

This is a brief plea for sanity for all of the restaurants that try to impress us with their unique plate presentations and choice of bowls, plates, platters, and other food serving utensil options. Sometimes I wonder if anyone from the offending companies ever eat their food the way that it is served to us. This is not a widespread problem, but it pops up often enough to be worthy of a mention. Forgive me for being plebian, but I would really enjoy being able to use a knife and fork in the dish in which it is served without looking like I am just learning to cut my own food.

Rotisserie chicken served in a deep sided soup bowl looks good when presented, but is a little awkward to eat after you are through looking. I sometimes feel like a surgeon trying to operate in too small an opening. Large salads that are served on a flat plate that require any cutting of the protein should leave enough room to maneuver. It is no fun constantly trying to pick the ingredients up off of the table and returning them to the plate.

And as long as I am on a rant, why do restaurants sometimes put an entree-sized portion of food into an appetizer-sized dish? Whatever happened to the concept of white space? It looks good in a printed ad, and it looks better with food. Having the food all crowded together on an undersized plate actually makes the portion look smaller, not larger. And, once again, it is not as easy to eat as when served on a larger plate.

And if you are going to serve us food in a martini glass, at least make it something that we don't have to cut. I love unique presentations, but they should pass the "can I eat it without making a mess?" test.

I feel better now.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on January 18, 2009 | Comments (9)